USPS Change of Address | Mail Forwarding

Are you changing your accommodation? It is not uncommon for many of us to move to a new place. Moving to a new apartment needs an intimation to all our friends, colleagues, relatives, businesses and services. Likewise, you must inform that you are changing your address to USPS as well. Many USPS customers keep changing their address, and they keep updating their new address to USPS at the same time. So, if you are also the one who is taking up a new home, then you should inform the change of address to the United States Postal Service as soon as possible.

United States Postal Service is extensively used by almost all the households of US. This national mail carrier efficiently delivers the customer’s mail and packages to their doorstep frequently. So, it becomes essential for the USPS users to communicate about the address change to the USPS on priority. You must do so because if you do not inform the USPS like you have told all your friends and relatives, the USPS will keep sending your mails and packages to your previous address, and you will miss all those mails and packages. But, once you inform the USPS about the change address, they will take a note of your new address and will begin sending you the mails to your new address. This article will not talk only about the different ways of changing your address with USPS but will also shed light on the ‘mail forwarding’ service of USPS. The change of address and mail forwarding are the two separate things but still related to each other. This article aims to eliminate the possible confusion you would be having between the two. Here, we will explain to you these two concepts and the change address processes in detail.

USPS Change of Address:

When you decide to change the address, it is essential to change your address in the records of the United States Postal Service as well. The data of the USPS includes all the details about you such as your name, address, and much more. The USPS uses this data to deliver the mail and packages at your place. Now, if you do not change your address in the USPS data and shift to a new address, then obviously the USPS will now know about the change in your address, and the postal service will keep sending your mails and packages on your old address like always. This way you will miss receiving your critical mails and packages. This is why changing address with USPS becomes essential, and you must communicate to the USPS that you have moved to a newer place and provide them your new address.

If you are thinking that the process of updating the new address to USPS is going to be very tough and cumbersome, then you don’t have to worry at all. This process is simple and easy. It will not take much of your time to get this job done. For the convenience of its customers, the USPS has devised several ways or the methods of informing the postal service about the address change. These methods are explained below in length so that you have a fair idea on how to change the address in USPS. You can pick a method of your choice and go ahead. The methods of changing the address are listed below.

USPS Mail Forwarding:

Some people often get confused between USPS forward mail and the change of address, but these are the two separate things. Talking about the USPS mail forwarding service, this service is meant for those customers who want to forward or resend a mail that he has received to a different or new address. This is what the USPS address forwarding service is. The customer may use the USPS mail forwarding service for various reasons. The customer can forward a mail if he has moved to a different address and now he wishes to forward all the mail and packages to his new address. Some customers also use USPS mail forwarding if they wish to forward just one piece of mail to some other person. USPS forward mail service comes with few restrictions. If you have shifted to a different address and you have informed the US Postal Service about the change in your address, then the postal service will forward all your mail and the packages to your new address just for some time.

By now, you would have understood the difference between the USPS forwarding and post office change of address. Now, we will talk about the different processes to inform the US postal service about your change of address.

How to Inform USPS about Address Change?

There are four methods or options to inform the United States Postal Service about your address change. You can pick any of these. So, let’s talk about these four options one-by-one:

1. Change Address Online at USPS.com:

One of the most preferred methods of the change of address post office used by the USPS customers is the online way. This method does not need a personal visit to post office or making a call to the post office, etc. All you have to do is to sit in front of your desktop or laptop and submit your request online. For using the online method of the address change with USPS, just go through and follow the steps provided below:

Step 1:Open the site USPS.com: The first thing for post office address change, you are required to do is, to visit the main or the official website of the USPS.

Step 2:Go to ‘Change of Address’: Now when you are on the official page of USPS, you need to go to the “Change of Address” button which is given under the category “Track & Manage.”

When you click on the Change of Address button, you will be directed to the official page of the Change of Address.

Step 3:Hit on the Continue button after going through the “Privacy Act Statement”: On the official page of the USPS Change of Address, the page will display some additional information relating to the USPS change of address and the Privacy Act Statement. You need to go through that privacy act and read the additional information meticulously. After you read the privacy act and the additional information well, then hit the Continue button.

The process of the change mailing address is broadly segregated into five sections or parts. The five parts of the address change are: Move Info, the Name and the Address, the ID or Identity Check, Instant Savings, and lastly, Confirm Order.

Step 4:Finish the first part which is “Move Info”: As the entire process of the online USPS address change is segregated into five parts, hence, you need to start and finish with completing the first part first which is, “Move Info.”

The site will ask you the information that, “Is this move permanent or temporary?” To answer this question, you will have two options with you. The two options are Permanent and Temporary.

Permanent Address Change: Talking about the Permanent US post office change of address, you must go with this option, only when you are sure that you are not going to return to your old address in the near future. This is when you need to choose a permanent change of address option. Most of the USPS customers pick this option only because most of them move on a permanent basis. If you want to go with this option and chose the same, then USPS will forward your mails and packages to the new address you have provided them, but only for a specific period. This period will depend on the mail class. To know more about the Mail classes and the time limits of their forwarding, you must visit the main or the official site of the USPS.

Temporary Address Change: Now comes the Temporary US postal service change of address. You can select this option if you think that you will return or move back to your old address within six months. If you go with the Temporary Change of Address option, then USPS will forward all your mails and packages to your temporary address that you provide them for a time of a minimum of 2 weeks and a maximum of six months. However, there are some cases when the customer does not move back within the first six months and the time limit gets crossed, in this case, all you have to do is to extend the time of the mail forwarding with the USPS. You can extend the time of the mail forwarding with the USPS for the maximum period of 12 months because the total mail forwarding time is almost a year or 12 months to be precise. For doing so, you will have to fill a different form which is meant for another change of address. If you are shifting to a new address for a time duration of less than six months, and then again shift to a different address which is not that address you are shifting from, then you should not choose the option of Temporary US postal service address change or forwarding end date.

After deciding whether to choose the temporary address change option or the permanent address change option, you will have to choose the start date of the mail forwarding. The USPS need this start date of the mail forwarding so that they could know that from when they can start forwarding your mail items to the new address.

Another question that will be asked to you is, “What time of move is this?”. The USPS will give you three options to answer this question. Here, you will have to select one of the three options which are INDIVIDUAL, FAMILY, and BUSINESS. To know what exactly are these options in detail, read below:

The Individual option: This is the option you must select if only one member of the family is going to shift.

Family: This is the option you must choose if the entire family is shifting. But, before selecting this option, you have to make sure that the whole family is moving to the same address and everyone in the family has the same last name. Take care to select the individual option if someone in the family carries the same last name, but is staying at home. Now, what happens if the family members have different last names and all of them are shifting to a different address? In this case, you will be required to submit separate forms of US post office address change process.

Business: This is the third or the last option. If your business is moving and you are asking yourself how can I change my address, then you must select this option. If you select the other options of Individual or Family while filling your form, and there is the delivery address that is mentioned in the business address, then the form will get rejected, and the USPS will not process the form of the address change any further.

Hence, choose one of the three given options that are true in your case and then press the Continue button.

Step 5:Finish the second or the Name and the Address part: – This is the second part of the USPS moving form. In this step of the form, you will have to mention your full name, your email address, the complete old address of your previous home, and the complete new address of the home where you have shifted now. Please make sure that all the details you have entered in the form are correct and there are no typographical mistakes in any entry. You can double check the different fields. This will eliminate the chances of any errors or mistakes.

Please take a Note of this: If you are shifting from a military address, then you must ensure that your email id ends with “.gov” or “.mil”

As you finish with this step, you can hit the button Continue and proceed to the next step.

Step 6:Finish the third or the Identity Check and Instant Savings part: This is the third step of the process. In Identity Check and Instant Savings part, you are needed to verify your identity. You can do so by using your debit card or the credit card, as per your preference. You will have to shell out $ 1.00 from your pocket for this. Now that you have verified your identity, you can hit the button of Continue again. In the other part of this step, which is the Instant Savings part, you can have instant access to $750 in the form of valuable coupons. If you want, you can take up the deal. Now, you need to continue to the other step.

Step 7:The last step is to Confirm the Order: This one is the last step of the process where you are required to confirm your order. Many times, in a hurry, the info that we fill in is incorrect. At that time, you don’t have to bother. The only thing you should do is to keep checking all the steps as you go on to fill the form. You can check the details filled by you on any step and at any time. In case you feel that some of the information needs an editing or if any information you find is incorrect, you can modify or change the info anytime you want.

2. USPS Change of Address by Visiting the Post office:

Some people are not comfortable in filling the USPS change of address form the online way, for those customers, USPS offers the change of the address by visiting the post office oneself. In this method, you can choose to visit your local post office. Some people also select this method because they do not want to spend the service fee. USPS charges a service fee for proving the telephone and online conveniences. But, if you change the address by personally visiting your local post office, it will be free of cost because the local post office does not charge any fee for changing the mailing address at the post office. To change the address using this method, go through the following steps detailed below. These steps will help you fill the change of address form and submit the same.

After reaching the local post office, ask them to provide you the form called PS Form 3575.

Fill the PS Form 3575 or the address change form correctly and duly with all the necessary details. In that form, you will be asked to choose one of the three options where the form asks you to fill the “Change of Address form.”

There, you need to choose the move type as explained earlier to you. Now you are required to fill your first name and the last name.

In the next sections of the form, the USPS form will ask you to fill the details mentioning your old address from where you have shifted and your new address, where you have shifted now.

After you have filled up the form completely and correctly, you can give it to the post office clerk. You also have an option to drop this form into the mailbox. But, please make sure to double check the filled form before handing over it to the clerk or dropping in the mailbox, so that if there is any mistake in the form, you can correct it.

This is the image of the Official Mail Forwarding Change of Address Order Form. Have a look:

PS Form 3575:

You also have an option to download the USPS Change of Address form from the USPS official website, and it is printable as well:

Note: International Addresses are also eligible.

3. USPS Address Change through Phone:

This is another convenient method of changing address. In this method, you can request the form by making a phone call to the USPS. The number you can call on for this address change form is provided below:

1-800-275-8777

This is the phone number on which you can call and contact your local post office. You can request the local post office for the PS Form 3575, and the post office will mail the form to you. But using this method will cost you little. To avail this service, you will be required to pay $1.05. This is the verification fee that USPS will charge you.

4. USPS Address Change through USPS App:

This is another easy method of changing your address. The fourth method that USPS offers to their customers is to change the address by using the USPS Mobile app. You will find an app called “USPS Mobile” in the Play Store and the App Store. You can change your address very easily using this “USPS Mobile” app. What you are needed to do is to download the USPS Mobile app on your mobile phone. If you use the iOS, then download the “USPS Mobile” app from the App Store. But, if you use the Android then, you need to download “USPS Mobile” app from the Google Play Store. Press the click button on any of the two buttons as per the operating system of your smartphone.

Not only the address change, but there is much more you can do with this app. The customers can schedule a pickup, ship online, hold their mails, track their packages, find the locations, buy the stamps, calculate postage, and much more. Download the App as soon as you can.

Conclusion:

Hence, these are the methods using which you can change the address. You can select any method that suits you and intimate the Postal Service about the change. Using any of these methods is easy to understand.

Now that you are aware of the address change with USPS, you can do so with least effort. So, what are you waiting for? Have a happy day ahead!